It is known that heteropolysaccharides can be produced by certain microorganisms. Some of these heteropolysaccharides function as hydrophilic colloids and because of their viscosity and rheology properties have been used as thickening agents for aqueous systems.
As with other fields of technology, research has continued with the objective of discovering new heteropolysaccharides having useful properties as thickening, suspending and/or stabilizing agents. It is an object of this invention to provide a new heteropolysaccharide, which is produced from a new Alcaligenes strain. It is another object to provide a method for making this new compound. A still further object is provision of formulations containing the new heteropolysaccharide as a thickening or suspending or stabilizing agent. Other objects of the invention will become evident from the ensuing description of this invention.